Guaifenesin - um....ouch :-)

So miss sensitivity (moi) decided to try her new bottle of mucinex yesterday afternoon. I read the info on the Guaifenesin site, and it seemed like my one time-released 600 mg. might equal two 300 mg a day...but I do not know this for sure, but I took it anyway. (I take risks that others shouldn't.)

They say on the site that most people won't feel much for about a week, that it ususally takes a larger dose, so I was kind of surprised to feel some pretty intense pain within a few hours. Oh my goodness, I hurt almost everywhere for the first time in a long time: my neck, my back, my breasts, my waist, my shoulders, wrists, arms, thighs, stomach, ovaries, ankles.

It was a different pain than I have ever felt before, a pain that I wanted to stretch through to release it, not curl up and hide from. Honestly, in the middle of the night, I wanted to start stretching to release something, though I don't know what. I was up most of the night, no way I could sleep, and it wasn't my imagination.

My neck is less stiff this morning than it's been in a while, and I know that isn't supposed to be. It really makes me want a massage, but I don't know if that's okay or not. I do think I should be drinking a lot of water with lemon and eating ginger to clean something out of my system, something that doesn't belong there. Something has been stuck in my tissues. I can just feel it very clearly.

Thing is that I know I am not as sick right now, in these last few weeks as many of you are, and this is a really good time for me to tolerate the pain of clearing this out...but this treatment could prove to be challenging for me. I'll try to let you know how it goes, though I suspect it's different for each of us.

I'd love to hear from anyone that's made it through and has suggestions or insights!

You can also order the fast-acting form of the Guai from here. That way, if the dose is too high, it's not lasting for 12 hrs. The fast-acting works better for me but not for everyone. Also, it does not contain that nasty blue/green dye that the Mucinex has.

At least, you know the Guai will work for you. It's just a matter of getting the right dose. Good luck to you and hang in there. The Guai is an excellent treatment and it does reverse the symptoms of the FMS.

Thank you so much for the suggestion! I only just got the Mucinex; so I feel like I have to cut the tablets for the time being. I can't afford to keep buying more and more. It's nice to know that a small dose is so...um...effective.

It's just the first day; so do you think that maybe I should let it help to clear the crap out of my system for a bit before cutting back? I'm so shocked at the fact that I'm in this much pain for no earthly reason, and I want to be h-e-a-l-e-d. If this will help to rid me of some sort of toxin in my system, then I need to bite the bullet and see what happens.

Can you tell me what you mean by ordering it "from here"? From this site? My diet was already pretty clean; so at least that isn't one more thing to have to deal with.

How long have you been taking this stuff? Are you essentially pain free?

I can definitely feel something acting on old scar tissue and in areas of my body that had been injured long ago that never fully healed. There is one spot in the center of my back between my shoulder blades that hurts so badly right now, but for the first time in years in the exact same area that I feel so much pain, I also feel a lot of enhanced mobility. Very, very strange.

Congratulations, it sounds as if you are already reverse cycling Bebe. If the symptoms become intolerable, reduce your dose.

To order Guai or anything else here, go to 'store' at the top of the page. A percentage of the proceeds go to charity & research. You can also order your sal free dental products here.

Make sure you stick like glue to the instructions in Dr St Amand's book. He does not recommend any supplements as he says his diet provides all you need. For advice, go to the Guai Group message board. Good luck
[This Message was Edited on 09/25/2005]

Aye, Carrumba...the supplements. How can I cut out my precious supplements? I looked for the ingredients he warns against. I'm only in a bit of trouble on one of them, my beloved Cardiovite as it has grape-seed oil extract in it.

I'm going to have to make an appointment with this doctor and get this straightened out as I hate to part with all the good I've been doing lately and rob my body of the nutrients that I know it needs. No Bone-up? um....can't go there. I don't mind feeling worse, but I don't want to weaken my entire structure either.

The good news is that it works for you. The bad news is that it is working too well. Cut back on it because if it makes you sick, you will not want to continue. Cut your dose in half and see what happens. If half a pill makes you sick in the morning, don't take the nightime dose or halve the tablet again and take only 1/4 of it at bedtime.

Some people are very sensitive to the Guai when starting out. They just have to go more slowly. You can always increase the dose later on. Good luck.

As mentioned above, you can scope out the Guai sold here in the Store.

I wish I read that post before I took my second time- released dose. I'm determined to "tough it out," but I completely agree with what you wrote and should have halved the tab as you originally suggested. Guess I figured if I braved it through the pain, maybe I would get better quicker. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea.

Just got off my Pilates machine which helped a little cause I feel like I need to stretch. As I think I said somewhere before, it feels almost like I'm breaking up scar tissue in places that it's been nearly all my life, and I kind of want to get it lossened up and out of my body.

I'll be a whole new woman by the time this is over...well, if I live through it...or even if I don't, I suspect.

Hi Bebe,
I'm fairly new to all this with the exception of the pain, stiffness, fatique and other symptoms ..can you explain to me exactly what the Guai stuff does? Or what it is supposed to do? Whats in it? How long does it take to start working?
I just really hurt all over this evening, and I dont really think my muscles could get much tighter. I am ready to try anything. I'm so tired of feeling this way!

I'm not the very best person to ask since I've just begun to take this stuff, but here is a link to the site where I found the information that people on this board have been kindly posting:

http://www.guaidoc.com/FAQs.htm

I don't really understand how it works even though I read a lot of the information in the web site; so I'm hoping that someone else answers your questions.

There's no telling for sure yet whether or not it works for me, but it seems like it's possible since I'm having new pain in all sorts of places, and they say that's supposed to be a good thing, and I'm willing to put up with it if it means that I will be virtually pain free in the long run.

I hope the link helps to answer some of your questions, and I know that there are others on this board as well that have been taking this stuff for a while that are better equipped to give you good information than I am.

I'm really sorry that you are feeling so badly and hope you feel better quickly!

Of course, you can continue taking this dose if you can tough it out, but if the flare lasts too long, you can cut it back.

I started out with 300 mgs. twice a day of the time release Gaui back before it became OTC Mucinex. My doc had to Rx it. I flared on that amount. Eventually, I increased the dose to speed up the reversal. I got up to 2400 mgs. a day for a while. Each time I increased, I had a significant flare.

I am now on 400 mgs. twice a day which is just slightly more than a maintenance dose.

What feels like old scar tissue breaking up is probably the Gaui breaking up the phosphate/calcium crystals and pulling them out of your soft tissue. They can feel like tiny fishhooks being pulled through your muscles. Look at your urine to see whether you can see it. It appears like dust on top of the urine. Also, sometimes the urine is bubbly. It takes on a different smell as well.

Good luck to you.

BTW, y'all, Jude probably is more knowledgeable than anyone here on the Gaui but I don't know how often she reads the board. She will answer Guai questions when she sees them.

Thank you so much for the explanation! It is true, it does feel like tiny fish hooks, breaking things up, absolutely all over my body, even in places that I had no idea were problematic!

Frankly, I'm enormously grateful to have begun this therapy because if I have all of these deposits in so many places, sooner or later, I was going to be nearly crippled with pain!

Here is the crazy part: When I was really small, I first began to play the piano. I noticed then that my little fingers would become very sore. Now for the first time in years, something is being broken up in my little fingers, and they hurt, but only a little, as I type this. My writsts and ankles are hurting, and they never do, but it is quite tolerable now that I'm in pain mode.

Good grief, I'm afraid that I've been coming down with this all of my life, and I didn't notice it until it was bad enough to really affect me. Looking back, I've always liked taking naps and never appreciated being deprived of my sleep, even at my healthiest, and I have to add that I have always taken extraordinarily good care of my health because my body demanded me to take the extra steps just to stay happy and healthy.

It must be genetic. My grandmother must have had it as well. I remember now how much pain she was always in (as she scrubbed the floors at 4:00 in the morning and how heavy she became in parts of her body though she almost never ate...but boy, she did she have a sugar craving and was always sucking on a "hard candy."

I feel it all down my neck and in every vertebrae. There's no way I'm giving this pain up. It's a good thing, and I know it with every fiber of my being.

And thank you so much for telling me about the urine thing. I noticed it this morning. You've helped me better understand what's going on, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

Thanks, all of you, for this. I started the guai treatment a few months back, and like dancingstar, was in intolerable pain, which was worse each day. I bailed on the guai. Now I can see I was premature, and shall try again w/lower dose.

Keep us updated on your progress, please, dancingstar. This has been very enlightening & helpful for me (since intuitively, I kept 'hearing' to do the guai treatment!).

I always took good care of myself and was very athletic. I thought I was healthy for most of my life. Still, in hindsight, I can now see things very early on which were harbingers of the illnesses to come.

I do think once we understand the mechanics of the Guai pain, we do welcome it because we know it is helping us in the long run. I'm glad you are being helped by the Guai. It sounds as though your body has just about run out of places to store the debris. When this happens, the body stores it in the joints and produces osteoarthritis which, according to Dr. St. Amand, isn't reversible. Still, the Guai has helped my OA. I wrote to Claudia and she said the Guai had helped her OA too.

A helpful hint: Take calcium with your meals and it will allow you to excrete the debris through the intestines and speed up the reversal.

Thank you, Mikie, I will take the calcium with my meals. It's a shame to hear that OA isn't reversible, but I'm glad that I've caught it before it gets any worse. I'm not all that bad, though I have to admit that I don't feel fantabulous these last couple of days.

It will not stop me from running off to a Tae Bo class later in the day to try to help eliminate the toxins from my system, though I may well pay the piper for having done so. I so want a nice, hard workout, and I can't bear to lose any more muscle tone that I already have. I also made an appointment with a lovely, very gentle chiropractor tomorrow whose office specializes in things like hot rock massage. If that's not pampering, well, I don't know what is.

Grailgoddess: Maybe you can tolerate a lower dose of the guai. If it gets to be too much for me, I will definitely cut back. The thing about the time release thing is that it gives me about an hour of relief before it kicks back in again.

Besides, in the two days I've been taking it, my upper back has some mobility. It's cracking and popping and moving, like there is oxygen in a few places where it hasn't been before. I'm going to tough it out. (It isn't normally my upper back that I'm griping about, but that is a spot where I have an old injury that has really tightened that area and locked it up.) Onward!

a few weeks ago. I take 1200 mgs a day and have had no herxing or feeling bad at all. My aches are quite a bit less than usual so I've just had good results. Is that unusual? Are you supposed to feel bad before you feel good. Just curious. I've been pretty happy with it overall altho I've gained about 10 lbs. Not sure if I can blame the guai or not. Can't quite figure out if I'm eating more or differently.... I think I'm going to have to do a little more exercising so I won't gain anymore. Now that I'm feeling better I guess I don't have an excuse. LOL!!

I couldn't sleep well last night, and I know that it's because I took a class at Billy Blanks' around 6:00 that was taught by Michael, if any of you know him. It was fast and hard...and I kept up. At first it hurt. Then it felt kind of great, but it amp'd me up for the evening.

I do not recommend this for any but the strongest and those of us that have been somewhat athletic for many, many years cause, well, it ain't easy to say the least.

Then I came home and took the guaif...and waited for the pain to come...and waited...and waited...but it didn't come. Then I remembered something. I had forgotten to take my Intenzyme Forte, which I'm convinced assists it. And around 3:00 in the morning I got up, took 5 of those things, fell asleep, and sure enough, awakened to some pain BUT it was different today. It was only in places that I never, ever get any pain under normal circumstances, not my usual hip thing. It was in my elbows, wrists, fingers, even my arms; where I once broke my nose, the left side of my head (but not a headache).

My neck moves all the way backwards for the first time in years with just a little bit of stiffness. I feel slight pressure on the left side of my head. My upper back has been getting more and more mobility.

Something else is strange. I woke up not only without stiffness but with "sunshine," with happiness, with laughter in my heart, like some pressure is being taken off of my brain. The sadness that has locked me in one place is not there today for the first time in a very, very long time. It is physical.

It feels like the Guaif is acting mostly on my upper body, but for some reason that upper body has caused my hips to hurt so badly, and I don't know why they don't hurt me today, if I did something wrong or what. They should hurt cause of the kind of exercise I did, though I know perfectly well how to "kick" properly. It's just the fact that I used them so much yesterday.

If this is working, she said with happy tears in her eyes, all I can say is a great big "thank you" to all of you, and ever the optomist, I'd like to think that maybe it is.